Mid Century Style: Far From Heaven

Last week in my Screen Analysis lecture, we watched a little movie called Far From Heaven. Directed by Todd Hayes, Far From Heaven is a contemporary film which is set in a suburban neighbourhood of Hartford, Connecticut in 1957, and shot in the classical hollywood style which was prominent in that very same era. Cathy and Frank Whitaker (Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid) and their two children  have a seemingly perfect upper-middle class existence, but behind closed doors all is not well in their marriage and the cracks are beginning to show. 

Far From Heaven does more than give us a glimpse into the life of this middle class family and their troubles - it deals with prominent social problems of the time including racism and homophobia in a very real and thought-provoking way, and the open ending lends itself well to reflection on where the story might go next as well as the issues the movie has dealt with. It is a stunning visual representation of the 1950's and a movie well worth watching.

The painstaking reproduction of 1950's life is absolutely stunning, with perfect mid century interiors and clothes hand made by the costume department to fit (and hide) Julianne's growing baby bump throughout filming. Commentary by the head of costume design for the movie says that Julianne's growing form lent itself well to the more curvy 1950's look which many of the modern actresses are too thin to pull off. 

I loved this film. That goes without saying! The storyline, the social commentary and the mid century style are right up my alley and I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves a bit of vintage and an interesting, thought provoking storyline. What a gem!

You can find my Mid Century Madness pin board here, or check back in a few days for some mid century inspired fashion and furnishing wish lists.

Creamy Pasta Sauce Recipe

Lately I have been really good and have been cooking nice, wholesome meals with plenty of veg in them. I've been really proud of myself and have actually really enjoyed cooking over this past week or so, too but sometimes you just need a break. You just need a quick, easy dinner and that is where I turn to the pre-made tortellini you find in the cold section of the supermarket. While this packet pasta might be a little more expensive than beans on toast, it is my absolute favourite easy meal because with the right sauce it tastes just like a proper meal! Usually I just use a home brand tomato based pasta sauce for this tortellini and stir it through the pasta after draining, but last week I didn't feel like a tomato based sauce, I felt like something cheesy and creamy, and so I whipped up this little gem:

Home Made Creamy Pasta Sauce

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/4 of a brown onion 

1 teaspoon of minced garlic (I use the stuff out of the jar)

A splash of cooking oil

2 1/2 cups of milk

1 1/2 cups of grated cheese

2 teaspoons of corn flour

2 mushrooms

salt and pepper (to taste)

The How To:

1. Finely chop onions and mushrooms while warming a splash of oil in a large fry pan over medium heat.
2. Add the onions and garlic to the oil and cook until the onions start turning transparent. Keep the onions and garlic moving around the pan as you cook to prevent the garlic burning.
3. Add the mushrooms to the fry pan and cook until brown, continuing to move the ingredients around the pan as you go.
4. Add milk to the fry pan and heat gently. While the milk is heating, put the cornflour into a cup, add a small amount of milk and stir until a thick paste is formed. Add a little more milk (just a touch) and stir it through the paste, making it a little runnier.
5. Add the cornflour to the pan gradually, stirring as you go. Continue stirring and begin to add cheese, little by little, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan so it doesn't stick.
6. Turn the heat up a little, add salt and pepper and stir some more. The sauce will begin to thicken at this point. If it doesn't start thickening in a few minutes, you can add a little more cornflour using the method above. Be careful of doing this though - you don't want it to turn too thick when it finally starts!
7. Once the sauce has thickened to just less than what you like it, turn the heat back down, add the cooked pasta to the sauce and gently stir it through.
8. Grab a bowl and serve yourself a generous carb-a-licious serving. Pasta is the best comfort food!

I know it seems like there is a lot involved in this recipe, but there really isn't - you've just got to keep stirring as you add things. It doesn't take too long to cook (only about 5-10 minutes) and the recipe is really versatile, allowing you to add veggies or even bacon (! why did I not think of this when I was making it?) to change up the flavour a little or make it a wee bit healthier. I was really proud of myself for "just winging it" in the kitchen the other night and coming up with this - it turned out delicious! Let me know if you try this at home, or share your own pasta sauce recipe with me below. Pasta is a favourite of mine and I'm always on the look out for new ways to cook it. :)

Fridays Finds: The Dress That Stole My Heart

There it was, peeking a pale pink, cotton lace sleeve out from between two other gowns on the rack. 

"I like this one" I remarked, as I pulled it and it's bejewelled satin petticoat out from the rack and held it to my body. 

"Try it on!" the shop attended urged. I cringed internally for a moment - I knew this dress wouldn't be cheap, and I was already starting to become attached. "Go on, I've never seen it on before. Give us a little fashion show!" 

I gave in, and snatching other dresses from the hanger as I went, made my way to the change room. Slipping the petticoat over my head, the tiny waist of the dress caught on my breasts for a moment. Easing the heavy satin into place, I began to do the little eyelets up. Somewhere around the middle of my rib cage, the eyelets would close no more. The top and bottom few had snapped into place, but there was one stubborn one in the middle that simply would not do up! I started to panic a little. What if the dress wouldn't fit either? Well at least I wouldn't be tempted to buy it, but what if I got stuck in it? It had happened to me before, after all - but never with a dress as exquisite as this one. Taking a deep breath, I sucked in my breath and pulled the crisp cotton over my head. A cascade of fabric fell below my waist, and I gave a little twirl - it fit! Emerging from the change room, I felt like a princess. The shop attendant gasped.

"Oh, isn't it beautiful!" She exclaimed. I simply couldn't get the smile off my face. "Now darling, I hope you know it is quite expensive - I don't want you getting too attached!" It was too late. This fabulous dress, made in the traditional early 1950's style and entirely out of pale pink cotton lace, had already stole my heart!

None of the other dresses I tried on that day fit as perfectly as that first one (petticoat aside), nor were they quite as beautiful. I couldn't get my mind off the perfect shade of pink, the way it fitted my chest and waist like it was sewn especially for my body, the beautiful, full and classic skirt which fell to just below my knees. I loved it. I loved every little bit of that dress, right down to the shiny satin petticoat which I was sure I could make fit me if I just let the side seams out a little. It didn't matter anyway, really, that the petticoat didn't do up - the little patch of flesh peeking through the side was lost in all the splendour of the lace overlay.  All day I have been thinking of that dress. Dreaming up excuses to buy it and occasions to wear it on. I know there is no way I can afford it's $250 price tag, and that makes me sad. Oh, but to dream, is it ever really enough?

******

Well, this week I was too broke to even op shop thanks to some clever timing on various different companies' behalves. I swear that all my service providers all got together and said "Lets all send Sunae her bills on this date! That will be fun!" No, companies, not fun! Not fun at all thank you very much!

Anyway, as you can imagine going a fortnight without shopping is not easy! So I decided that today I would go downtown and have a little look in the Coolangatta Antique Centre and the vintage clothing shop a few doors down to pass the time and satisfy the urge. Since both these shops have quite pricey things in them, I knew I wouldn't be tempted with the "oh, just one dollar here, two dollars there" approach that seems to dwindle away my money in the op shops. I was (sort of) right - nothing in that price bracket but there were some really cheap tea cups that might just make their way into my cupboard come payday, as well as some more expensive items which have made it onto my mile-long wish list. 

I went to the vintage clothing store first. I didn't take any pictures in there because I was too busy chatting to the shop attendant and trying on gorgeous dresses, but let me tell you now - before I walked out of that shop I fell in love. That is where the little anecdote above come from - true to life, I tell you! That dress really is the most beautiful dress I have ever tried on!  I'm contemplating selling a kidney so I can afford it. Anyway, moving on!

These pictures are from the Coolangatta Antiques and Collectables Centre. These are just a few of the many, many things which caught my eye and made me realise how much of a hoarder I would become if I actually had the money to buy all this stuff!

The clothes in here, if you're ever in the area are actually really reasonably priced! 

This tea cup totally belongs in my cupboard! Pity it's $95. 

This display had me yearning for a big, old Victorian-style mansion. Or even a cute little cottage to put this chair in the corner of the bedroom or tucked into a little reading nook!

This is a terrible picture of a beautiful fruit bowl which caught my eye because it is pink. 

Just a few little tea cups for me to lust over. I'm starting to realise that I'm a little bit obsessed!

Last but not least, the vintage phones! There were about 5 other shelves of these, but I took a picture of this one because it's the one that had all the pink ones on it. I really, really, really want the pink and black one in the top right corner! The black on in front of it, I could also take!

Anyway, I had a lovely time browsing the shops this afternoon! I'm thinking of going back there tomorrow with mum, since she is coming up for a visit. Maybe on payday I will sneak a few of the cheaper tea cups into my budget. Or maybe I can do myself a deal where for every assessment I have coming up which I get a distinction or higher in, I can buy myself a present? In that case, with my first two assessments coming back as HD's (did I tell you guys about that??? So exciting!) I guess I already owe myself two tea cups! Or one pretty vintage dress?

Have you ever tried on a dress which felt like it was made for you? I want to hear all about it :)

Lest We Forget.

via

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

Cute Cushions

Since getting our new-to-us lounge last week, I have been super excited about finally getting our living room looking the way I have always wanted it to look. We have a bit of a blue, white and orange theme going on at the moment thanks to my Blue Willow collection and an antique plate given to me by mum, and I am absolutely loving the pop of brightness it brings to an otherwise boring room. I would really like to bring this all together with some nice, bright cushions on the lounge but right now choice is not my friend, and neither is my bank balance!

I can't decide whether I'd like plain blue cushions with orange patterned ones or plain orange cushions with blue patterned ones. What do you think? I've put together a little wish list below of patterned cushions which I love, but besides from number 3 which, being Blue Willow, is obviously my first choice and is wayyy out of my price range, I can't decide which I like best.

Since budget is an issue, I will probably end up making whichever patterned cushions I end up with, but I'm curious - which type of pattern do you think I should go with based on the pictures below? Orange or blue? And simple like the middle two, or busy like the others?

Decisions, decisions, decisions I tell you!

Cute Cushions by sunae-reilly on Polyvore

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Featured Sponsor: MamaNene from Serger Pepper

You may have noticed I have a couple of ads on my sidebar of late. I am really hoping to keep this up from now on so that I can afford to buy my own spots on others' sidebars and just generally keep up with the demands of this blog. MamaNene was my first ever sponsor on Little Foal. She won the space in my 100 follower giveaway and she has been an absolute pleasure to work with! Her sewing skills are so enviable and she truly is a master of refashioning things! I recently asked her to share a bit about her blog with me and answer the question "what inspires you creatively in your day-to-day life?" Here is what she had to say...

Let's talk about Serger Pepper...

My very first post is from November 2012, when I've known that Santa Claus was giving me a Serger! Is all about my journey on sewing, mostly clothes, and refashioning too... I've lately discovered that I like to draft patterns and share them. All around this there's my passion on photo editing and graphic creations (this is part of my real life work too, I often create flyers and posters for the swimming pool I work into).
I'm also strongly against disposable objects (my daughter used to wear washable diapers I've sewn, we only use fabric tissues and so on...) and I love to found new life to old things, so I often make new clothes from old curtains, other clothes or blanket and sheets!

I love to write in both Italian and English, because there aren't a lot of sewing blog written in italian but I love to reach the big international english-speaking public, also if my English isn't the one used to be when, 20 years ago, I studied it at school! But I hope it's understandable :)

And now: your question!
In my day by day I love to"think outside the box": when we need something, I try to think "How can I make it?", instead of "Where can I buy it?"...and then I finish putting FOE on T-shirts an sewing Panties instead of going to the shop :)

I'd really like to embellish a little more my creations, but I'm mostly a practical girl, trying to satisfy needs instead of researching beauty

Kisses and hugs,
MammaNene

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Thank you so much for sharing, MamaNene! I truly admire your eco-consciousness and love all of the things you make! I hope that all my readers will pop over to Serger Pepper to see some of your wonderful creations, too :)

An A to Z of Me: E is for...

E is for Ellie

Everybody needs a best friend. The kind of friend who is there for you through thick and thin. Who you laugh with and cry with and go through life with supporting one another. I am lucky to have a few friends like this, who I can count on for anything and who I am close with even after going through long periods without seeing each other, but perhaps one of the most special of my friends is Ellie. You have seen Ellie on the blog a few times before, no doubt but I just had to make this post especially for her.

You see, the truth is that I don't know what I would do without Ellie. Ever since we met in 2010 we have been the best of friends and gone through everything in life together. It is crazy-scary how similar a path Ellie and I seem to go down in life. I won't go into the nitty gritty details, but lets just say we both "lost our way", found it, were fish out of water at school and then met the loves of our lives all at the same time as each other. Throw in endless girly nights of gossip and that's our friendship in a nutshell! Everything I have gone through since I met Ellie - she has been there for me without falter. She is an absolute gem of a girl and I am so lucky to have her as my best friend!

Ellie, Me and my other bestie Alisha

Bonus is that our boyfriends get along with each other sooo well, so we always have the option of double dates when we get together - quality time with friends and the boy all in one!

Living in different cities is hard for us, and we are both living away from our boyfriends at the moment, too but we try our best to spend as much time together as we can. Bonus of living in different cities is the change of scenery we get when we visit each other, but we definitely miss being around the corner from each other as we were a few years ago when I would stay at Jake's place. 

Anyway, if you read this El, I absolutely freaking love you! I can't wait to see you on Friday and hear all about your trip to Darwin xxx